"Environmental Studies"

Since the term “environmental studies” can mean many things, Masters programs in Environmental Studies can vary widely. In some cases they are broad interdisciplinary programs such as the one at UW Oshkosh while other times they have a specific focus that is not indicated by the title. So it is particularly important to learn about the peculiarities of each program.

Note: programs change over time. Check current websites to get up-to-date information.

Description: The Individualized Program (IP) has been designed to meet the needs of students whose professional goals cross disciplinary boundaries and whose interests and needs cannot be met within the requirements of one of Antioch New England's Environmental Studies programs. Students engage in a rigorous and rewarding process of crafting an academic framework which reflects their individual professional goals while providing a structured and disciplined approach for achieving academic depth and meaningful practice.

Baylor University

Description : We at the Department of Environmental Studies believe that these problems can be managed with the skill and dedication of trained, informed individuals. These people require broad interdisciplinary knowledge to understand and solve ecological problems which have resulted from social, political and economic conflict. The program centers around a core of environmental issues and science courses. Graduates of the Department have found a wide variety of employment opportunities in regulatory agencies, private consulting firms, education and business.

Prerequisites for admission : An academic background that is adequate to undertake the course of study that has been defined as the candidates' major area of interest. Minimum 3.0 grade-point average computed from the undergraduate disciplines that support the candidates' graduate area of interest.

Bemidji State University

Description: The interdisciplinary curriculum focuses on the natural and social sciences as they relate to environmental problem solving. Each graduate student is required to select a specialization, complete course work requirements, and conduct a research project leading to a thesis.

Brown University

Description: Our goal for the Master of Arts Program in Environmental Studies is twofold: to help you understand emerging environmental problems and to strengthen your competence in managing them. In most fields an MA is a practical degree and this is especially true of the MA in environmental studies at Brown.

Description : Environmental Studies is an interdisciplinary program focusing on human interaction with the environment-cultural as well as natural. Courses integrate knowledge and methods from several disciplines, all of which independently study special aspects of the environment. The program treats the social and cultural aspects of human attempts to exploit, modify and achieve balance with the environment. Curricula include concerns for ecological change, environmental pollution, technological solutions, balanced land utilization, and aspects of planning. The program prepares students to work as professionals in the environmental field.

Prerequisites : University requirements include a baccalaureate from an accredited institution and a grade-point average of 3.0 in the last 60 units of course work attempted. In addition, three letters of recommendation are required. An undergraduate course in ecology and one in statistics are prerequisites for admission. Students without these prerequisites may be admitted provisionally but must take these courses prior to or concurrent with their enrollment in study plan course work.

Description ; The Master of Arts in Environmental Studies is a new degree offered by the Maxine Goodman Levin College of Urban Affairs. It prepares students for careers in environmental policy and management while providing students with a broad, interdisciplinary course of study. Developing human institutions, organizations and behaviors that restore and protect the environment requires careful study of both natural and human systems and their interdependence. This task is at the core of an environmental and urban studies degree program.

Description:The Graduate School at the College of Charleston offers a Master of Science degree in Environmental Studies (MES). The MES program focuses on human impacts to the environment and provides quality research and management training through a thesis or internship option. The Master of Environmental Studies (MES) program, offered by the Graduate School of the College of Charleston , is an interdisciplinary graduate program, designed to provide students an appreciation of the complex and interrelated nature of environmental problems without sacrificing the training rigor of a specific academic discipline. This exciting approach to preparing students for the challenges presented by environmentally oriented careers combines courses from the natural sciences, mathematics, and public policy fields with hands-on learning experience through internship opportunities. This combination gives students an edge in the ever-growing environmental job market. The MES program prepares those students who want to pursue doctorate degrees after graduation through concentrated study culminating in a thesis project. All MES students focus their programs of study in either Environmental Policy or Environmental Science.Admission requirements: No specific undergraduate major is required for admission to the MES program, and non-science majors are encouraged to apply, including those studying political science, economics, English, psychology, philosophy, communications, business, or sociology. In most cases, non-science majors should expect to complete additional undergraduate work in order to meet the course work requirements expected for admission consideration. Generally, students applying to the MES program will be expected to meet the following criteria and demonstrate the following course work: Have an overall undergraduate Grade Point Average (GPA) of a 3.0 on a 4.0 scale, with a GPA of at least 2.8 on all science and mathematics courses. Have a combined score (quantitative, verbal, and analytical) of 1600 on the Graduate Record Examination (GRE). GRE scores submitted must have been earned within the previous five years. Applicants with older GRE scores may be required to retake the exam. Two semesters of college biology with laboratories*. Two semesters of college chemistry with laboratories*. *OR, one year each of a college science (with laboratories) in a discipline other than biology or chemistry. (If this option is chosen, students could be required to make up chemistry and/or biology deficiencies.)

Florida International University

Description: The purpose of the Master of Sciences in Environmental Studies is to train students for work in the areas of environmental policy, natural resource science and management, and sustainable development, with particular focus on the South Florida region, the Caribbean Basin , and Latin America . An emphasis of the program is the cultural and political milieu in which environmental issues of the region are embedded. The program is, thus, interdisciplinary in nature, and emphasizes both natural sciences and social sciences of the environment. Students will be encouraged to take advantage of University-wide resources, programs, and courses in environmental issues, such as those in Public Administration, International Relations, Biology, Chemistry, Geology, Political Science, Economics, and Sociology/Anthropology.

Description: This program provides personalized instruction by establishing relationships with environmental experts to guide the research interests of each student. A combination of directed study and practicum allows students to explore individual interests. This program is designed to provide professionals who work with an/or teach about the natural environment, an interdisciplinary, experiential learning opportunity to enrich their understanding of that environment.

Admission requirements: Baccalaureate degree from an accredited college or university with a 3.0 or higher GPA. MAT or GRE required of all applicants. Recommended GRE score of 1000 (combined verbal and quantitative) or MAT score of 57. One year of biological sciences, or equivalent; One year of physical sciences, or equivalent; College algebra, or calculus; One computer course.

Description:Two-year full-time interdisciplinary program in focused upon Environment and Community, to begin in Fall 2003. Students gain theoretical and practical knowledge about environments and communities in the U.S. and around the globe, and the economic, social, and political regulations affecting them. The mission of the Environment and Community program is to prepare students to understand the relationship between communities and their environment, to analyze environment-community issues at different scales, and to act effectively in situations where values and interests diverge. Students completing this program will have: an understanding of both disciplinary and interdisciplinary approaches; skills to analyze the environmental consequences of economic and political structures at both the local and global scale; tools to address issues of race, class, and gender in environment-community relationships; an understanding of community, place, and sense of place; knowledge and experience of social science research, including qualitative, quantitative, comparative and applied methods; insight from case studies that offer a problem-oriented approach to learning; preparation for careers in teaching, government, community and environmental organizations; an ethic of service and civic engagement

Montclair State University

Description: The Master of Arts degree in Environmental Studies offers concentrations in Environmental Education, Environmental Health, Environmental Management, and Environmental Science. Each of these concentrations is designed for professional careers. Environmental Education serves the needs of teachers; Environmental Health serves the need of health professionals; Environmental Management serves government and business leaders; and Environmental Science serves industry.

Prerequisites : Students with weak undergraduate preparation for environmental studies will be required to complete prerequisite courses at the undergraduate level and/or appropriate graduate level.

Description: The Master of Arts in Environmental Leadership program offers an integrated interdisciplinary curriculum, which explores living systems theory, deep ecology, ecopsychology, diverse leadership models and contemplative education. Our students bring a fresh view to environmental work and action. Our program incorporates a variety of learning formats that deepen it beyond the normal graduate program. As a result, students develop a level of commitment and heart that will make their work in the world effective at a profound level. Our innovative program awakens students to live within the view of the new science and systems theory. It incorporates contemplative practice as well as a variety of learning formats including group projects, group process work, community dialogues, wilderness group and solo work, small class sizes and a high level of student/faculty connection and participation. Our focus is to impart an excellent education and to support students in finding their gift and lifework.

Description: The Master of Science in environmental studies is an interdisciplinary program of graduate coursework and research. Created in 1970, the program meets the needs of students looking for a broader academic experience than a traditional course of study can provide. The program gives students the flexibility to pursue coursework and research spanning several disciplines. Students' backgrounds run the gamut from business, humanities, and social sciences to physical and biological sciences and engineering. All share a high level of professional motivation and concern for the future of our environment.

San Jose State University

Description: The goal of the Environmental Studies Master's Program is to train independent environmental professionals in the broadly interdisciplinary analytical skills necessary to solve environmental problems. It has been, and continues to be, our belief that a broad perspective is necessary to develop approaches that help preserve, conserve, protect, or enhance the environment for future generations of people and , as well, for all other species with which we share this planet. Throughout the graduate program, students receive skills in communication and critical inquiry through fieldwork, data analysis, manuscript preparation, presentations within graduate seminars and departmental colloquiums, and interaction at professional meetings. Global perspectives (as well as local viewpoints) are integrated in all course work, and graduates are encouraged to serve their society by going through our graduate internship program and carrying out thesis research that addresses the needs of city, state, national, and international agencies. Being a thesis driven graduate program, each student must write a thesis that will pass the department's criteria for good scholarship, as well as the rigorous scholastic requirements of the University's Office of Graduate Studies and Research. Many of our graduate applicants come to us from different colleges having completed a major in another field (e.g., Biology, Geology, Anthropology) so they can make career change to become an environmental professional. Our mission is to help students identify environmental careers they can pursue and put together specialized multi/interdisciplinary advanced programs of study that incorporate the necessary tools and techniques needed for successful employment or further academic study. The EnvS graduate faculty maintains that "good environmental policy is based on strong science." Consequently in addition to the minimum 27 units of science background required for acceptance to the program, most students are required to study additional natural science for their research projects, proposal, and thesis. Furthermore, most Environmental Studies theses require more fieldwork and a stronger research component than the typical social science library thesis.

Description: The goal of the Environmental Studies Department is to enhance society's ability to create an environmentally acceptable future that maximizes both environmental and human health. Faculty with diverse backgrounds in the social and natural sciences and in the humanities are committed to developing interdisciplinary approaches to environmental problem solving. Four concentrations are available: Environmental Humanities; Environmental Sciences; Natural and Sustainable Development; and Policy, Planning and Administration.

Description:For over 29 years EVST has trained students serious about the world's--and our region's--environmental concerns. EVST offers a flexible and thoroughly interdisciplinary approach. Students are largely responsible for structuring their course of study with faculty from throughout the campus. Our objectives are to improve the quality of life and to protect our planet. To move towards those objectives, sensitive and innovative approaches to environmental problems are required. Our approach is interdisciplinary, stressing environmental science, environmental policy and environmental thought and literature. After taking a core course in each of these areas, students design a course of study based upon their interests and needs. Protecting the earth and planet requires more than interdisciplinary thinking; informed "activism" is also necessary. EVST requires every student to complete a course requirement in activism. Our interdisciplinary-activist emphasis is unique among graduate programs.

University of New Hampshire

Description: This program is designed for students whose work crosses disciplinary boundaries within the natural resources and thus do not easily fit within one of the existing options. Students can later choose to specify one of the five options if their research interests change or if they become specific to one individual area.

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Description : The goal of these requirements is to help assure that every student gains an understanding of the breadth and depth of the field of Ecology as it is treated among various traditional disciplines. Every student will select either Natural Sciences or Social Sciences as their Principal Research Area. The other automatically becomes the Supporting Research Area. A student needs to gain substantial knowledge of both areas in order to honestly be called an ecologist.

University of Pennsylvania

College of General Studies, School of Arts and Sciences, Environmental Studies

3440 Market Street, Suite #100, Philadelphia, PA 19104-3335 U.S.A.

1-215-898-7326

Degrees Offered: Master of Environmental Studies

Description:The Master of Environmental Studies is offered by the College of General Studies in cooperation with the Institute. Course work for the Master of Environmental Studies brings together researchers and practitioners in the physical and biological sciences, economics, social sciences, and other arts and sciences disciplines with professionals in planning, health care and the law. This multidisciplinary approach provides graduates with the breadth necessary to address the complexity of environment problems as well as the depth to provide specific expertise in environmental issues and management. Within its twelve schools, the University encompasses programs and faculty who address aspects of environmental analysis and management from many perspectives. Whether the aim is to assess the risk of exposure to toxic substances, to plan for energy efficient land use, or to evaluate the impact of man on the global climate, members of the University faculty continue to play a major role in shaping the ongoing dialogue about the relationship between humans and the environment. The Institute for Environmental Studies (IES) at Penn draws these individuals into a focused intellectual community which forms an academic base for the graduate program in Environmental Studies. The MES program typically admits students into one of several disciplinary streams that are well developed at Penn: Environmental Biology; Environmental Communication & Education; Environmental Health; Environmental Humanities; Environmental Geology; Environmental Policy; Resource Management.

University of Oregon

Degrees offered: The program offers a two-year master of science (M.S.) or master of arts (M.A.) degree in environmental studies and a three- to five-year post-masters doctor of philosophy (Ph.D.) in environmental science, studies, and policy.

Description : The Environmental Studies Program is a flexible and interdisciplinary graduate program. Students design a course plan tailored to their individual goals and interests and identify faculty members who can advise them in developing and completing their projects and theses. The program operates as an autonomous unit within the College of Arts and Sciences. More than eighty faculty members affiliated with the program have research and/or teaching interests in local, regional, and global environ-mental issues such as urban growth, sustainability, water resources, public land management, marine resources, land use, and endangered species. The program attracts exceptionally strong students. Our students often have nonacademic environmental experience (employment, volunteer work, internships, Peace Corps, or Americorps). Most graduate students in environmental studies receive funding for all or part of their graduate program. Program members enjoy a strong sense of community. The success of a student's individualized program relies heavily on personal initiative and self-discipline. Many students focus on the law, policy, and science of environ-mental issues; others choose to focus on the philosophical and historical legacies that underlie the human connection with the environment. Some students integrate cultural representations of environment through studies in art, music, dance, theater, and literature. Master's students also can obtain concurrent graduate degrees from other departments or from the School of Law . Program graduates have gone on to work for government agencies, nongovernmental organizations, and the private sector or have entered doctoral programs. The doctoral program prepares students for careers in research and teaching in postsecondary institutions or for employment in government and nongovernment sectors.

University of Southern California

Description : The MA program is an interdisciplinary program spanning the social and natural sciences. Directed towards the study of national and international environmental issues and policy problems, the program offers students the choice of three concentrations for study: 1) Global Environmental Issues and Development; 2) Law, Policy, and Management; and 3) Environmental Planning and Analysis. The curriculum is designed to prepare students for a career in the rapidly expanding environmental field, but is also well suited for students interested in teaching, government, business, law, and consulting. Prerequisites : Undergraduate GPA of about 3.0 or higher and combined GRE score of about 1000 or higher (quantitative and verbal sections). Students with a baccalaureate degree in any major may be admitted into the program as long as they have completed a year of biology, a year of chemistry, a course in earth sciences, either life or physical sciences or engineering, a course in statistics (or calculus), an introductory human environment, social ecology or environmental studies course in the social sciences. It is recommended that students take a science course in ecology and a course in economics at the undergraduate level prior to applying for admission. The Director of the Environmental Studies Program will consider other relevant course work and work experience as a possible substitute for the required and recommended course work.

Description: Students wishing to pursue a cross-disciplinary graduate degree in Environmental Studies may choose courses from among three concentrations: Environmental Policy, Environmental Science, Environmental Communications, and Environmental Health. Students must select two focal departments in which to concentrate their studies, as required by the Master of Interdisciplinary Studies. VCU's Center for Environmental Studies reflects a major trend in the field, that of integrating researchers and professionals from various environmental disciplines and technologies into effective multidisciplinary teams. Students in the M.I.S. Program's environmental studies track can take advantage of this approach by designing an individual course of study that reflects their personal goals, combining traditional academic studies with specific areas of expertise or interest.